Jeffrey Lewis – To Be Objectified

Last week, anti-folk hero Jeffrey Lewis announced his tentative appearance at Rock Beyond Belief. We are proud to have such a talented singer/songwriter come out and play a set for us. Maybe you haven’t heard of him, or maybe you only heard of him via association with Kimya Dawson (the musician behind the Juno soundtrack, and half of the Moldy Peaches anti-folk band). His lyrics often function as ‘the lead guitar’ by virtue of importance.

In the spirit of spreading secular music, or just good music in general, we’re bringing you the video for “To Be Objectified” off of his latest album, Em Are I.

This song is a new secular anthem. Spread it.

It was filmed and edited for under a hundred dollars. Yeah…

Amazing lyrics below the fold:

I left a trail of myself every place that I have been created, And going bald is the most manly thing that I’m ever gonna do. I tell the earth, “thanks for the hair, thanks for the skin, thanks for the bone”, Though I now slowly give it back I still appreciate the loan. Just tell me that you like me in the same sentence as a mountain side. ‘Cause it would be such a relief to be objectified. ‘Cause who says it’s so important to sort through these thoughts of ours. Maybe be that’s why we love to try to see ourselves from the outside In photographs and videos and diaries and mirrors. ‘Cause it would be such a relief to be objectified. And the closest that I ever got still seems to leave a lot to go, but the horizon seems to be a place that nobody can know. Looking forth and looking back, our vision can’t extend beyond the quaint vanishing points our bodies’ recommend, and I’ll help you move some furniture somewhere it’s never been before, but the room’s so small the dresser drawer won’t let us get back out the door. Just tell me that you like me in the same sentence as the building. It would be such a relief to… I’m just a natural thing. We’re only boats, And the boats are only empty And you can’t blame an empty boat that’s on a river to the sea. You can’t blame a billion boats without a sail, without a sailor. And that’s how we look in photographs, and diaries, and mirrors. And the plants turn into ants, and the ants turn into plants, And children are clumsy people, and old people are rotting Children. And I still don’t have a cell phone, but this sea shell gets Reception, And the ocean won’t stop calling, and I want a restraining order. Just tell me that you like me in the same sentence as a building.It would be such a relief to see I’m just a natural thing. We’re just a natural thing. Just like anything.

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